O‘Reilly relies on ‘culture’ for success

It’s a far cry from when Chub O’Reilly and his father, Charles O’Reilly, struck out on their own in 1957.

The high hopes continue for the future – 170 to 175 new stores are set to open in 2006, and the company hopes to double its revenue in the next five years through a combination of expansion via mergers and acquisitions and organic growth.

CEO Greg Henslee - the first person outside of the O’Reilly family to hold the position - said the company’s biggest impact locally is its work force.

“Here at our corporate office, we employ approximately 600 team members, and in our distribution center, we employ over 350,” he said.

“Then, of course, there are the stores in the area. The employment of various team members in the area is probably our biggest contribution from an economic impact standpoint.”

The Springfield area has been good to the company, too; O’Reilly revenue from southwest Missouri’s 54 store locations, plus the distribution center, topped $100 million in 2005.

Though Chub’s four children – Charlie, Larry and David O’Reilly and Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten – have stepped back from the daily operations of the company, longevity is a theme throughout the company’s management team. Chief Operating Officer Ted Wise has been with O’Reilly for 37 years; Jim Batten, who recently stepped down as chief financial officer and is now treasurer, has been a team member for 15 years; and Henslee is in his 23rd year.

The longevity, along with much of the company’s growth, can be attributed to the famed “O’Reilly Culture,” a point Henslee repeatedly pointed to when talking about the company’s success.

“The success of each new store is a perpetuation of that culture. It’s the family values of a small business, though we’re a large company,” Henslee said. “Those values – honesty, fair dealing, teamwork, all the things that have made us successful – the perpetuation of that is what’s going to drive our success, one store at a time.”

The family attitude also has led to the company’s generous charitable history. Several of the O’Reilly family members are involved with charitable organizations, including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Ozark Greenways, Missouri State Council of the Arts and Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.

“Yes, they’re great businesspeople, but their heart is with the needs of this community,” Greene County Commissioner Harold Bengsch said after a March 17 event during which the O’Reilly family received the Excellence in Business Award from Ozarks Technical Community College. “That’s what makes them so special. Anywhere there seems to be a need, there seems to be an O’Reilly.”

It all goes back to the culture, which Henslee said permeates every aspect of the company.

“I know the O’Reilly family, and the company wants to give back to the community as much as we can,” Henslee said. “We all live in this community and we want it to be a healthy and thriving one.”

O’Reilly Automotive Inc.

Address: P.O. Box 1156, Springfield, MO 65801

Phone: (417) 874-7165

Web site: www.oreillyauto.com

2005 southwest Missouri revenues: $100 million[[In-content Ad]]